Case Study

Enterprise CRM Transition

Transitioning a consultant-dependent CRM into an internally owned platform capability.

Context

The CRM platform was initially introduced by a single department without formal governance or institutional alignment.

By the time I assumed responsibility, the platform had been in operation for approximately eight years. It had evolved in an ad hoc manner, with no clear ownership model or strategic direction.

Key characteristics of the environment included:

• Six independent departments using the platform.
• Inconsistent and sometimes conflicting implementations across teams.
• No shared definition of a “customer” within the system.
• Limited technical leadership, with teams operating beyond their capacity.

As a result, the platform was underutilised and largely perceived as a tactical tool by contact centre teams rather than a strategic asset.

Problem

The primary issues were structural rather than technical:

• Fragmented and unclear platform ownership.
• Heavy reliance on external vendors for delivery.
• Disconnected support, training, and development functions.
• Absence of a cohesive roadmap to guide investment and prioritisation.
• Poor data quality, limiting organisational insight and value.

This constrained both the effectiveness of the platform and its potential future role within the university. Together resulting in a high cost of change, inconsistent user experience, and limited institutional trust in the platform.

Risks and Constraints

• Distributed ownership created resistance to centralised governance.
• Legacy integrations limited the speed of change.
• Poor data quality introduced uncertainty during remediation.
• Existing vendor dependencies constrained early delivery options.

Approach and Delivery

The CRM transformation followed a staged progression: stabilising the platform, standardising its use, and establishing the foundations required to scale it as an enterprise capability.

Governance and Ownership

• Centralised platform ownership to enable consistent prioritisation and investment decisions.
• Established governance structures and lifecycle management.

Data and Platform Standardisation

• Defined a standardised customer model and lifecycle.
• Performed large-scale data remediation to establish trusted data foundations.

Capability and Operating Model

• Transitioned to a DevOps-oriented delivery model.
• In-sourced delivery capability, reducing vendor dependency.
• Integrated support, training, and development into a unified service model.

Stakeholder Alignment

• Established cross-functional alignment across academic, operational, and technical stakeholders.
• Built adoption through consistent engagement and delivery visibility.

Trade-offs and Key Decisions

• Chose incremental transformation over full re-platform to reduce risk and maintain continuity.
• Prioritised in-sourcing for core capability while retaining vendors for specialised work.
• Standardised key processes while allowing limited flexibility for department-specific needs.

Outcome

The transformation repositioned the CRM from a fragmented, vendor-dependent tool into a strategically governed, internally delivered platform capability.

Capability and Ownership

• Established clear platform ownership, enabling consistent prioritisation and investment decisions.
• Built internal delivery capability, reducing reliance on external vendors and improving long-term sustainability.
• Aligned platform, support, and training functions into a cohesive operating model.

Financial Impact

• $5M reduction in consulting costs through the transition to in-sourced delivery
• $100K P/A reduction in operating costs by standardising and removing duplicated tools and processes.

Platform Maturity

• Defined and implemented a strategic roadmap aligned to institutional priorities.
• Improved cross-functional coordination, reducing duplication and increasing delivery consistency.
• Enabled scalable service delivery, supporting expansion across multiple university functions.

Data and Insight

• Established trusted data foundations, enabling reliable reporting and operational visibility.
• Delivered enhanced analytics capability, supporting customer lifecycle tracking, retention analysis, and a 360-degree view of student interactions.

Strategic Positioning

• Positioned the CRM as an enterprise platform, capable of supporting high-trust and high-sensitivity use cases.
• Created a foundation for future digital transformation initiatives across the university.

Before / After

Key Projects

Data Integrity and Cleanup

The initial priority was addressing poor data quality and the absence of defined data standards and governance within the platform.

There was no established data dictionary or shared agreement on data structure, resulting in inconsistent and unreliable records. Active student records averaged approximately 3.5 duplicates per individual, significantly impacting reporting accuracy, operational efficiency, and the ability to track the student lifecycle.

A structured data review and remediation program was implemented, combining rules-based matching and deduplication workflows with manual validation to ensure accuracy. This approach enabled scalable identification and resolution of duplicate and inconsistent records while maintaining data integrity.

• Over 300,000 records were remediated.
• Frontline staff were equipped with tools and processes to manage data quality at the point of interaction.

This transitioned the platform from a fragmented and unreliable dataset to a governed and trusted source of information. Reporting accuracy improved significantly, enabling reliable cross-department insights and establishing the foundation for an enterprise-wide CRM capability.

Online Admissions Platform

The CRM was extended to support a unified admissions capability across Higher Education and Vocational Education, addressing fragmented processes, inconsistent decision-making, and a poor applicant experience.

The objective was to consolidate disjointed and costly assessment workflows, standardise admissions practices across departments for consistency and compliance, and provide a single, accessible entry point for applicants.

Intake

• Established a single point of entry for all prospective students.
• Replaced multiple departmental forms and channels with a unified application experience.

Processing

• Centralised applicant workflow and enquiry management within the CRM.
• Standardised assessment processes across departments, improving consistency and reducing risk.
• Introduced policy-driven automation to assess applications, with manual validation applied where required.

Integration

• Integrated with backend student management systems to maintain continuity through to enrolment.
• Enabled staff to manage communication and supporting evidence within a single platform

This approach simplified the applicant experience while reducing operational complexity and cost. It also improved consistency in decision-making and enabled faster adaptation to policy and recruitment changes, positioning the platform as a core component of the university’s intake capability.

Counselling and Disability Case Management System

A legacy case management system supporting counselling and disability services had become increasingly unreliable, with growing risks related to data security, compliance, and operational effectiveness.

The objective was to design and implement a secure, compliant case management capability within the CRM, capable of handling highly sensitive medical and legally protected information while improving usability for frontline teams.

The solution was built with a strong focus on access control, auditability, and data protection, ensuring that sensitive records were appropriately secured and traceable. Integration with the CRM enabled a more holistic view of student interactions while maintaining strict boundaries around confidential data.

• Delivered over approximately 12 months from inception to production.
• Successfully onboarded multiple student support teams into a single platform.
• Decommissioned the legacy system, reducing risk and support overhead.

This resulted in a secure and compliant case management capability, improving staff confidence in handling sensitive information, strengthening audit and governance controls, and enabling more consistent and efficient case handling across support services.

Appointment Booking Solution

An appointment management capability was introduced to support case management needs, with an initial focus on enabling structured scheduling for student support services.

Rather than implementing a narrow solution, the approach was expanded to establish a reusable appointment booking capability integrated with the CRM. The objective was to provide a consistent, scalable scheduling service that could be adopted across the university.

The solution enabled centralised management of availability, bookings, and interactions, while integrating directly with existing workflows and student records within the CRM.

Capability

• Established a reusable appointment booking service integrated with the CRM.
• Enabled consistent scheduling workflows across multiple service areas.
• Provided a single interface for managing bookings, availability, and interactions.

Adoption

Within six months, the capability was adopted across:

• Student services - enabling advisory and support appointments.
• Future student engagement - allowing prospective students to book consultations.
• Academic staff - supporting course planning, enrolment discussions, and complex student enquiries.

This approach improved access to services, reduced administrative overhead, and enabled a consistent experience for both staff and students. It also demonstrated the value of extending the CRM as a platform for shared service capabilities across the university.